Quasicrystals

Facts for Prelims

Quasicrystals

News: Recently, Scientists have discovered a third natural source of quasicrystals.

About:
 Quasicrystal, also called quasi-periodic crystal, is a matter formed atomically in a manner somewhere between the amorphous solids of glasses and the precise pattern of crystals. In quasicrystals, the atoms are arranged in a pattern that repeats itself at irregular, yet predictable, intervals.
 The first natural quasicrystal found was as microscopic grains in a fragment of the Khatyrka meteorite lying in the Koryak mountains of Russia.
 The second time scientists found natural quasicrystals in the remains of the Trinity test of the Manhattan Project.
 Recently in the Sand Hills dunes in northern Nebraska, where scientists found silicate glass which is a dodecagonal quasicrystal, rare even for quasicrystals.

Where can they be used?
 Surgical instruments, LED lights and non-stick frying pans, solar absorbers for power conversion, bone repair and prostheses applications.